O9 I'm Wide Awake

"I'M WIDE AWAKE"

I was awakened by something smacking me in the head. My face was still pressed to Peter's chest, my head half hidden under the covers. Apparently the Conways liked sleeping in a deep freezer.

"Wake up, doofus! I need deodorant."

Peter shifted under me and hissed. "Get out!"

I popped my head out from under the covers, confused by the rude awakening and about who Peter was talking to.

Evan stood in Peter's room in nothing but a towel loosely wrapped around his waist. His blue eyes doubled in size when he saw me. He cursed under his breath. "Faye, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were under there."

"Evan!" Peter pointed to the door.

His brother put up his hands, surrendering as he backed out of the room. "Doors have locks for a reason, baby bro!" He declared before shutting the door.

Peter flopped back against the pillows. "Sorry. Try to go back to sleep," he told me.

The silence didn't last long, though.

"Why would he need the door locked?" Another brother asked, their voices muffled by the closed door.

"His girlfriend slept over," Evan replied.

"Holy shit!"

A third brother entered the conversation. "What are you two talking about?"

"Peter has a girl in his room."

"Seriously? Who?"

"Who do you think, idiot? Faye."

"Go! Away!" Peter yelled at his gossiping brothers. When it fell silent again, he groaned, covering his face with a pillow.

I couldn't hold back my laughter. His light eyes peeked at me from under the pillow. "I'm glad you find this funny."

"Your family is entertaining. I could see them with their own reality show. Catching Up With the Conways."

"Please, don't say that to them. They might try to make it happen."

A quiet filled the room as we stared at each other. My head still on his chest, the sound his heart thumping in my ear. His fingers absentmindedly played with hair. He probably didn't even realize he was doing it. I didn't tell him, in case he tried to stop.

"So...How'd you sleep?" He asked.

"Like a baby." I said, resting my chin on the back of my hand. "After an embarrassing cry session in a strangers bed."

"Stranger? I thought we were a little more than that."

"Strangers with benefits, then."

He smirked. "I'm glad your sarcasm is back."

It shocked me that his face didn't turn into a tomato at the mention of benefits. Maybe after seeing me break down in front if him, I lost my ability to embarrass him.

Or maybe after sharing a bed, my sexual innuendos lost their effect.

We went back to openly watching each other. I remembered wanting to kiss him last night. In the light of day, I could one hundred percent admit that it wasn't a fluke or a moment of weakness.

Somehow, I let myself fall for Peter Conway.

I sat up so suddenly, Peter's fingers got tangled in my hair and accidentally pulled. I grabbed my hair and tied it up with a black hair tie I wore around my wrist for emergencies.

Peter's gaze followed my movements, a dent between his brows. I avoided his eyes, focusing all my energy on getting my ponytail just right without any sort of mirror.

"Hotel Conway get four stars," I said, satisfied with my hair. "I knocked off a star because it felt like sleeping in Antarctica."

He chuckled, sitting up and stretching forward while yawning. His hair was flat in the back and I was tempted to reach over and fluff it out. "That's Ryan. We think he might be a vampire."

Another silent moment passed between us. I toyed with a loose string on his plaid comforter, unable to bring myself to look at him. It started to veer into awkward.

"I have to pee." I said, crawling over him and out of the bed.

"It the first door--"

"I know." I stepped into the hall, knowing the bathroom was behind the same door as it was in my house.

I heard his brothers being loud in the kitchen. The smell of breakfast filling my nose as I slipped into the bathroom. It was surprisingly clean for a bathroom in a house full of boys.

There was a bowl of potpopurri on the back of the toilet and not stray pair of boxer shorts in sight. I assumed they kept this bathroom clean for their girlfriends. I could only imagine what the upstairs bathroom looked like.

When I finished up, I went back to Peter's room, but Evan, now fully clothed in a muscle shirt and basketball shorts, intercepted me.

"I'm really sorry about earlier," he said, steering me to the chaos of the kitchen. Ryan and Chris were already seated, plates piled with omelets, toast, sausages, a fruit. They greeted me with full mouths.

Evan sat me down at the table, then rushed into the kitchen. I looked around for Peter, but didn't see him. He was probably still waiting for me in his room.

"So, Faye," Chris said between bites of food, tucking some of his long blond hair behind his ear. "How'd you convince our baby bro to break his no dating rule?"

So, his brothers knew about his hang-ups with dating and still teased him about it? Seemed kind of rude.

"A magician never reveals her secrets," I told them.

"Back up!" Evan barked at Aaron as he came back from the kitchen. "This plate is for Faye."

Aaron stopped reaching for the sausage on the plate, noticing I was at the table. "You look like the sharing type," he grinned.

"Sounds like you need glasses," I quipped.

His smile fell and his brothers howled with laughter.

"Sorry about the shoe," Evan said, setting a heaping plate of food in front of me. It was definitely more than I could possibly eat.

"You hit her with a shoe?" Ryan scolded, glaring at his brother.

"I didn't know she was there!"

Aaron gaped at his twin. "Faye, I will avenge you for one of your sausages." Before I could accept his offer, he was tackling Evan. They stumbled into the living room, both of them falling over the back of the couch. Chris snickered while Ryan shook his head at his wild brothers.

Now I understood what Peter meant when he said meal time was like a cage match.

Like I thought him into existence, Peter came down the hallway, brows pinched as he watched his brothers wrestling on the couch. When he spotted me, his whole face opened up in a smile.

He came over, claiming the seat next to me. "I thought you got lost."

"Nope," I said, tasting a piece of the omelet. "Just kidnapped by Evan."

Aaron let out a roaring grunt, flexing his muscles. "That's right! Can't touch this!"

He walked back over to the table with his hand out. I felt like he earned the sausage so I placed one in his palm.

Peter watched the exchange with confusion, turning his questioning gaze to me after Aaron walked off munching on the food. I simply shrugged.

"You have to eat some of this," I told him as I speared a piece of fruit. "Your brother thinks I'm one of you."

He laughed and went to grab a plate from the kitchen. When he returned, I scraped half of my plate onto his.

Evan and Aaron finally joined us at the table to eat. Probably famished after the fight. While we ate, they talked about any and everything. Their girlfriends, Marvel movies, Evan's venture into vegetarianism, Peter's new love life.

"How long have you been together?" Ryan asked, sipping orange juice.

I glanced over at Peter who looked back at me. Since me meeting his brothers was never part of the plan, we were definitely unprepared for this.

"Since the last day if school," Peter answered. Keeping with his anti-lying stance. That was technically true.

"And why didn't you inform the family?" "Aaron asked, slathering his toast with apricot jam.

"To avoid this exact moment," Peter said. "Are you planning to write our biographies?"

"Alright. Alright. One last question,"  Evan proposed. The table fell silent. "Why?"

Chris snorted. Peter groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Why?" I asked, brows arched.

"I mean, you seem like a cool girl. You're not some tree hugging hippie like I imagined baby bro being with."

"Says the dude who eats leaves because of his hippie girlfriend," Aaron pointed out.

Evan waved off his twin's comment, waiting for my answer. I glanced at Peter who was drinking his juice, slight panic in his eyes. Another question we didn't prepare for.

Turning back to Evan, I decided to follow Peter's no lying thing. "He's blackmailing me."

My fake boyfriend choked on his juice just as his brothers burst into laughter.

"Now that, I can actually believe," Chris said.

"The world make sense again," Evan exclaimed, running his hands over his short hair.

Aaron pointed his fork at me. "I like you. Maybe you'll rub off on baby bro. He's too intense sometimes."

"Don't worry, when I'm done with him he'll be drinking out of single-use plastic bottles."

After breakfast, Evan, Aaron, and Ryan left to play basketball at the park. Chris stayed behind to clean the kitchen, since it was his turn according to the chore chart.

Peter and I went back to his room. I was stuffed from breakfast and was ready for a nap. I curled up in the recliner while Peter made his bed.

"I can't believe you told them I blackmailed you," he said, fixing his sheets.

"Well, you did."

He faced me, pillows in hand. "No I--Okay, technically I did, but you were holding me hostage."

I glanced down at the Fall Out Boy shirt he let me wear. The one I grabbed onto and wouldn't let go of until he agreed to lie for me. That day was still so wild to me. "Why'd you ask me?"

He smoothed out the wrinkles in his comforter. "The only other person in the room was Mr. Johnston and he's kind of old."

My brain screamed at me to leave it alone. That I probably woundn't like the answer. But after last night, I needed to know if maybe I wasn't the only one getting their wires crossed between fake and reality.

The proof I needed lay in whether he chose me at random or not.

"It kind of sounded like you had this whole fake dating thing planned out already," I told him as he arranged the pillows on the bed. "You could've asked anyone."

He fluffed the last pillow before turning to face me. "I have thought about getting a fake girlfriend before. But I hadn't fully committed until that day in the detention room when the opportunity presented itself."

I knew I wouldn't like the answer. Him asking me was a random impulse. It could've been any girl in that room and he would've walked away with a girlfriend. Apparently, I was the only one with my wires crossed.

"However." I looked up at him, waiting for him to finish his thought. "I'm glad it was you that I asked. You're good with improve and...you're a lot different than I thought."

He turned back to his bed, inspecting his work.

"What?" I laughed. "You can't just leave it at that. What'd you think of me before this?"

He plopped down on his bed, ruining his perfectly smooth bedding. "Honestly, I thought you were rude and mean and angry."

Was that really how I came off to the world? It didn't sit right with me. "I am all those things, actually."

"Not to overstep, but after what I saw of your mom yesterday...it make since why you're that way."

Everyone who has ever criticized my behavior blamed me and me alone. I've been scolded for my reactions so many times by the adults in my life. Not once had anyone made the connection that my actions were in response to how my mom constantly judged and tried to control me.

"Sorry. I shouldn't have said that--"

"No. It's true. I'll need you to repeat that in front of her. She might believe it coming from you."

He let out a short laugh. "People underestimate the influence parents have on us."

I assumed he was referring to his mom. I could only imagine the damage a parent choosing to walk out of their kids lives could have on someone. Was her leaving the reason he swore off dating?

"Speaking of parents..."

I groaned at his segway.

"You're welcome to stay here another night."

I wanted nothing more than to share a bed with Peter for another night. But I couldn't do that to myself. My growing feelings for him caused me enough trouble.

Standing from the recliner, I went to pick up my clothes that were neatly folded on top of his dresser. When had he done that? I definitely left them in a pile on the floor last night.

"I'll have to face her eventually," I said, hugging my clothes to my chest. "Plus, she might send the cops to get me if I don't return."

That was her favorite move when Sabrina didn't come home for a couple days. Peter looked taken aback by that. My mom had him completely fooled with her nice act.

Once I changed back into my clothes, I went home. Peter offered to walk with me, but if my mom happened to take off work that day, I didn't want Peter to witness another shouting match between us.

Freckles greeted me at the door, leaving wet kisses on my face that I couldn't dodged. Dad came next. Thankfully, he was the one who took off work to wait for me.

"Why didn't you answer your phone?" His voice was stern and scolding but the hug he gave me was warm and welcoming.

I turned my phone off after me, Cherry, and Peter left. My mom was blowing up my phone with calls and texts.

"I was scared she might find away to come through the phone, so I turned it off."

He released me from the hug. "Kiddo, I'm sorry about how bad things got yesterday. Your mom was just thinking about your future."

"Contrary to what she believes, I think about my future, too." I said, walking over to the couch and sitting down. Dad followed. "I never once implied that I'd blow of school for a record deal."

Despite the teachers on power trips because they were bullied in high school, I actually enjoyed school. I liked learning new things I could reference in my songs. And I loved people watching. Before I had a love life of my own, I used to write love songs based on my classmates relationships.

If anything, going to college would fuel my creativity. Plus, tv made the college experience look fun. For my mom to assume I didn't want to go pissed me off.

"I know," my dad said sympathetically. "Sabrina didn't want go."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "I'm not Sabrina!"

"I know. We know that," my dad said, touching my shoulder. "You're mom's just worried. After everything that happened to Sabrina, your mom wants to make sure you make the right choices."

I scoffed. "You mean she wants me to shut up and do what she says."

He frowned. "Faye..."

"It's true! Anything I do that isn't pre-approved by her is wrong," I told him, pulling my knees to my chest. "I'm not trying to be a bad daughter. But in her eyes, the only way I can be good is by doing exactly as she says."

Tears rushed down my cheeks and my dad pulled me into a tight embrace. "Come on, kiddo. You should tell your mom how you feel."

"She won't care." I sobbed into his shoulder.

He stroked my hair. "She might surprise you."

I didn't believe anything I said to her would change a thing. She was as stubborn as they came. After soaking my dad's shirt with snot and tears, I retreated to the garage.

My new song book still sat untouched on my piano. My old notebook had years of notes and lyrics that inspired me whenever I had a block. This new, blank book did nothing for me. I really wished I had my old song book back.

I played a random melody, singing about much I needed my notebook back. The lyrics were simple and not at all serious, but I kept going. The subject wasn't the best, but there was an actual song in there somewhere.

Grabbing a pen, I scribbled words down. The story of a lost notebook became a story of lost love. Once I switched the subject, the song came in clear. Like it already existed and was just waiting for me to discover it.

By the time I finished the song, my mom was home from work. She was still in her work clothes as she stood over the sink eating a cup of yogurt.

"Where did you sleep last night?" She demanded. "And don't say Angela's because I spoke to the Whitakers' and they're out of town."

The feeling of extracting a new song from my soul always left me in a state of serenity. So I answered her truthfully. "I slept over at Peter's."

He face blanched. "Faye, do not bring that nice boy into your drama."

I expected a bad reaction from her so I let it roll off my back. Grabbing and banana from the fruit bowl on the counter, I chose not to engage and went up to my room.

I was done letting her drain my energy.

*******

I had so much fun writing Peter's brothers! They're an energetic bunch.

Faye is realizing she has real feelings for Peter.

And Faye is deciding to be civil with her mom for once. How do you think that will go?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting this story! 🥰🥰